Quality Time
Sage was begrudgingly up and awake, eating Rasin Bran when Jason bolted to the door, grabbing the backpack he’d left there, and surveying his rumpled reflection in the mirro just inside the door. He raked a hand through his messy hair and groaned when it didn’t help, pouting as he threw open the door and raced down the stairs, calling behind him, “Bye, Sage!”
She chuckled and shouted back, “Seeya!” She noticed, as she was rinsing her bowl and putting the milk away, that Jason had left his guitar in the living room. She dried her hands on her jeans and wandered over, pickin up the guitar and pulling out Jason’s music and chord sheets. Guitar was, she thought, somewhat more difficult than ukulele, but not by a whole lot.
Sage had been pleased to realise that Jason had good music tastes. Landing in between her indie preferences, Sam’s affinity for folk and old country, and Tony’s fervour for classic rock. She looked up the guitar chords for “Us” by Regina Spektor and had managed to strum a few chords before Sam blearily drifted in from the bedroom.
“Jay? I thought you were heading to work.”
Sage gave him an apologetic grin, holding a hand over the strings. “He did, sorry to disappoint. Jason left his guitar and I wanted to play it. That’s okay, right?”
“Oh. Yeah, totally. He won’t mind.” He dropped onto the couch next to her, slumping over ot lean on her should. “You like him, don’t you? Because honestly, at this point, I don’t know what I’d do if one of you didn’t like the other.”
“Yeah, I like him.” She looked at him, knowing better than to chalk the faintly vacant look in his eye up to exhaustion. “You really like him, don’t you?”
Sam nodded miserably and buried his face in her sweater, groaning. “I think I’m in love with him.”
“Well good.” Sage elbowed him lightly in the ribs. “You deserve to be happy. Beisdes, He’s really good for you. You’re happier around him. Don’t fuck this up for yourself, okay? None of that self-sabotage bullshit. Let yourself love him. I promise, I like him. But, if he hurts you, I’ll murder him myself.”
Sam hugged out a laugh. “I suppose that’s fair.” He hooked his chin over her shoulder and glanced at her phone. “Us?”
She grinned, leaning her head against his. “It’s out power anthem. Hey, you wanna go get coffee?”
”God yes. I’ve already got a withdrawal headache.”
Sage laughed and shoved at him lightly as she got up. “You have a problem.”
“Well duh.” He poked her in the butt as she stood. “Pot.”
“Wait, you got pot?” She spun around and squinted at him suspiciously.
“No! I was-” He groaned and swiped a hand down his face. “You know, the thing. Pot calling the kettle black.”
“Oh. Okay, that’s fair.” She grabbed his hand and hauled him off the couch. “C’mon, I want coffee.”
---
They went to a little hole in the wall coffee place equidistant from Sam’s apartment and the tower. It had become a favourite of Sage’s during the last week or so as she studied for finals. It was called The Roadhouse Café and all the signature drinks had fandom names. Sage loved bringing Steve iced americanos - hit with a shot of irish cream, and it was the Captain America - and bringing Pietro espresso blend black coffee - with three extra shots of espresso and five sugar packets, it was called either The Flash or The Speedy Gonzales depending on who you asked. Surprisingly enough, the drink calmed the speedster down. Personally, she enjoyed the @CheryBombshell - an iced almond milk latte with two pumps of amaretto, and a shot of grenadine.
Sam ordered a Neal Caffrey - a cold brewed espresso blend French roast - and, after some deliberation, a sausage, egg and cheese croissant sandwich. Then he payed for his order and stepped aside for Sage to order.
“Right, and I told him that. H- oh.” Sage had turned to the register, ordering smile ready, but stopped short at the sight of her usual order sitting in front of her. She turned to look, but there was no one waiting on an order. There wasn’t even anyone in line behind her waiting to order. “I-”
The kid behind the counter grinned. Their name was Aerin, and Sage recalled having several friendly conversations with them. “On the house as a congrats for acing that English final.” They laughed kindly at Sage’s bewildered expression. “You told me the other day; you were really excited.”
Sage flushed furiously. “Th-thanks.”
Aerin grinned again, tongue poking through their teeth adorably. They checked to make sure there still wasn’t anyone waiting to order, and leaned over the counter slightly. “Is this your boyfriend?”
“N-no. He’s, um.” Sage fiddled with the tray her order was on. “This is Sam,” she gestured to him vaguely, “He’s my brother.”
The boy smiled brightly and reached over to shake Aerin’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, you too.” Aerin smirked at him before turning back to Sage. “You get any other grades back yet?”
“Uh, no, not- not quite yet.”
A throat was cleared behind Sage and Aerin winced. “Yeah, I should-”
“Yeah.” Sage picked up her order. “Thank you for this.”
They winked. “Anytime.”
Sage noticed that Sam already had his order and had just been waiting on her. She flushed again.
“Ooooh, somebody’s crushing…”
Sage glared at him and darted to a table where she was safely hidden, but still in Aerin’s line of sight. “Shut up, Samuel. I don’t have a crush on Aerin.” She glanced up just as they did, catching their winking and ducking her head, fighting the blush that wanted to spread further down her cheeks. “I- I mean, they’re cute. But I-”
Sam laughed. “Alright, alright. I get it. You’re a hopeless emo child who will never know love.”
Sage kicked him under the table, scowling.
---
“I’m back!” Sage called as she exited the elevator.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Tony looked to be making ravioli, and Loki was sat at the island, watching him happily. She’d probably interrupted in the middle of a story. “Did you have a good time?”
“Yep.” She gave Tony a hug and then walked around to sit by Loki. “Sam’s got a boyfriend now.”
“Oh?” Loki turned his attention to Sage. “What is he like?”
She shrugged. “He’s pretty cool. Plays the guitar.”
“Oooh, the guitar.” Tony grinned at the exasperated eye roll that earned him. “Sorry.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yeah, okay, you’re right. Anything interesting happen?”
“I think Aerin might have a crush on me.”
“Aerin…” Loki exchanged a look with Tony. “Remind us who that is, darling?”
“Oh. Right, sorry. Aerin works at that coffee shop I found, The Roadhouse Café? I thought I told you about them. They’ve got bubblegum pink hair and gauges, a really pastel vibe?” She noticed Tony shaking his head. “Weird. I could’ve sworn… Anyway. Apparently I told them how I did on my English final, so they bought me what I’ve been ordering the past several days as a congratulations.”
Tony chuckled, doing his best to ignore the faint unease curling in his chest. He hadn’t given thought to the fact that Sage might be interested in dating soon. No way was anyone going to date his daughter without the approval of every damn member of his team. “Is this a thing we should be worried about? Do I need to meet this kid?”
Sage rolled her eyes again. ”No. Anyway, I could’ve sworn they were dating someone. They were probably being nice.”
“But you do like them?” Loki asked, eyes roving her face, searching for clues as to what she was thinking.
She groaned. “I don’t know.” She buried her face in her arms. ”I didn’t even consider that that was a possibility until today. I mean, they’re really cute, and super funny and interesting, but… I dunno. This is either a crush or a squish, and I can almost never tell the difference between the two.” She heard Tony muffle another laugh and lifted her head to glare at him.
“I’m sorry.” he smiled at her kindly. “I resemble that remark. Ravioli?”
Sage’s eyes lit up, and Loki’s rolled. “Yes please!”
Tony grinned smugly and dished some out for her. “I told you, Lokes. Everyone loves ravioli.” He plated some for himself and Loki as well, leading the other tow to the couch. “Let’s watch National Treasure.”
“Yes!” Sage cheered as Loki sighed.
“Only if we’re watching White Christmas afterward. It is still Christmastime, Anthony.”
Sage laughed.